successful takeoff for a new rocket carrying an American moon

A new rocket took off from Florida on Monday January 8, with on board the first American device to try to land on the Moon in more than 50 years. The Vulcan Centaur rocket from the private group ULA, which brings together Boeing and Lockheed Martin, was launched from Cape Canaveral (United States), tearing off the ground at 2:18 a.m. local time.

The lander on board, named Peregrine, was developed by the start-up Astrobotic, with the support of NASA. The American space agency has commissioned this company to transport scientific equipment to the Moon, as part of a $108 million contract.

This launch should inaugurate a series of missions supported by NASA, which wishes to rely partly on the private sector for its lunar ambitions. If Astrobotic’s spacecraft manages to land on the Moon as planned on February 23, the company could become the first to achieve this feat. In recent years, Israeli and Japanese companies have attempted to land on the moon, but these missions have ended in crashes.

If all goes well, once in lunar orbit, the probe will wait there until the lighting conditions are right to attempt to land. The targeted landing site is located on the visible side of the Moon, near mysterious lava domes whose formation scientists struggle to explain. Thanks to the instruments sent, NASA must study the composition of the surface of this area, as well as the radiation.